Skip to main content
ARS Home » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #75854

Title: APHID-HOST PLANT INTERACTIONS IN PECAN

Author
item Smith, Michael
item KAAKEH, WALID - PURDUE UNIVERSITY

Submitted to: Recent Research Developments in Entomology
Publication Type: Book / Chapter
Publication Acceptance Date: 10/8/1996
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary: The blackmargined aphid, yellow pecan aphid, and black pecan aphid are three very damaging insect pests on pecan. Their adverse affects on pecan have been well documented. Furthermore, until very recently, affects of the pecan host plant upon the aphids have been based largely upon field observations. However, the objective of the most recent investigations is to identify trees (among pecan cultivars, hickory species, pecan X hickory hybrids, and walnut) which are resistant to the three pecan aphids. A number of resistant trees have been identified. Furthermore, the types of resistance have been determined, and the mechanisms responsible for the resistance are under investigation. This new information will be essential in pecan breeding programs, and has utility in other agricultural systems (i.e. cotton, wheat, sorghum, vegetables, fruit tree, etc.) where breeding for insect resistance is a priority.

Technical Abstract: Aphid-host plant interactions have been investigated primarily from the perspective of the effects of aphid feeding upon the pecan host. However, aphid-host plant interactions also involve the reciprocal effects of the host plant upon the aphid. While earlier research has been largely observational, recent quantitative evaluation of pecan aphid response to various host plants has been initiated. Developmental biology and behavioral investigations of the three aphid species have been conducted among four plant families, among the Juglandaceae species native to North America, and among select groups of pecan cultivars. Both antibiosis and non-preference have been identified among the plants evaluated. Both the phytochemical and plant morphological characteristics of the plants tested are being investigated as potential mechanisms responsible for the observed resistance. This new information will be essential in pecan breeding programs, and has utility in other agricultural systems (i.e. cotton, wheat, sorghum, vegetables, fruit tree, etc.) where breeding for insect resistance is a priority.